


On Earth as it is in Heaven

by MrToddWilkins (orphan_account)



Series: The Journeys of the Saturns and Shuttles [7]
Category: Gallagher Girls Series - Ally Carter, Political RPF, Space RPF
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate History, F/M, Gallagher Girls IN SPACE, Good Catherine Goode, Junior Astronauts, Spies & Secret Agents, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Romance, Wedding Planning, but with a happier ending than the usual teen pregnancy, here I go again writing another space story, in-universe commentary on the weaponization of space, the Circle of Cavan plotline didn’t happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-01-15 18:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18504955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MrToddWilkins
Summary: The tale of all that emanated from a summons Bex Baxter received. No,not that kind of summons.Expect lots of cool stuff to happen.





	1. Epigraph

_Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it, in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you,then I know you_

_Won't tell what I said_

_‘Cause two can keep a secret_

_If one of them is dead._

\- Ace of Base, ‘Secrets’ (2004)


	2. Prologue

( _From the Gillian Gallagher Academy Official Encyclopaedia of Espionage, 2003 edition)_

Spy satellites are robotic observation platforms that orbit the Earth in order to image its surface and record radio signals for military and political purposes. They transmit their data to Earth, where it is interpreted by specialists in centralized, secretive facilities such as the U.S. National Photographic Interpretation Center in Washington, D.C. Spy satellites have been essential not only to military operations and the formation of national policy but to the verification of arms control treaties such as SALT I, SALT II, and the New START Treaty.

The four basic types of spy satellite are: (1) photoreconnaissance systems that take pictures in visible and infrared light, (2) infrared telescopes designed to detect missile launches, (3) radars that image sea or land even through cloud cover and in darkness, and (4) signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellites (also termed "ferrets"), which are optimized either for characterizing ground-based radar systems or for eavesdropping on communications. Sometimes photoreconnaissance and SIGINT functions are combined in single, massive platforms such as the U.S. Keyhole-series satellites.

Although the precise technical capabilities (and in many cases even the basic missions and orbits) of U.S. spy satellites are secret, it is thought that the best U.S. visible-light spy satellites are capable, given clear skies, of imaging surface features only a few centimeters across. A modern U.S. spy satellite can, given clear skies and a good viewing angle, read a license plate from space.

Spy satellites overcome all the limitations of spy planes. A network of three geosynchronous satellites can, in contrast to the occasional glimpses provided by spy planes, keep the entire world in view at all times. (A geosynchronous satellite orbits 22,300 miles above the equator in the direction of the Earth's rotation, matching its movement with the Earth's surface so that it appears to hover at a fixed point in the sky.) A network of lower-altitude satellites in polar orbits (i.e., circling at right angles to the equator, over the poles) can, by combining their smaller fields of view, do the same.

......The Soviet Union, although always lagging the U.S. technologically, has also deployed infrared early-warning satellites. By the late 1980s, it had several "Prognoz" satellites in geosynchronous orbits doing the same job as the United States's DSP satellites. It also had a collection of fourteen "Oko" (Russian for "eye") satellites, also infrared early-warning platforms, in elliptical (off-center) orbits. The latter were designed to observe the missile fields of the continental U.S. at a grazing angle. The advantage of such a view for early warning is that U.S. missiles would, within seconds of liftoff, be silhouetted against the blackness of space, making them easier to detect. To decrease the likelihood of a Russian ballistic-missile launch due to flawed or inadequate information, some experts have proposed that the U.S. and Russia set up a joint early-warning center where the U.S. would share its DSP data with Russian observers. These efforts currently stand to bear fruit in the form of the OSST (short for  _Ob_ " _yedinennyy_ _sputnikovyy_ _shpionskiy_   _tsentr_ ) in Brussels,set for commissioning in 2008.

The EKS series,a catch-all successor to Oko and Prognoz,commenced deployment with the launch of _Kosmos 2482_ on March 27,1999. The EKS satellites provide the functionalities of both earlier systems in one satellite bus.

....... An important U.S. satellite system that is now in the process of development is the Space-Based Infrared Satellite System (SBIRS), which is intended to replace the aging DSP early-warning system. SBIRS is intended not only to detect launches, but also to provide detailed tracking information that could be used in antiballistic missile defense. SBIRS will have two components, SBIRS High and SBIRS Low,or Brilliant Eyes. SBIRS High will consist of satellites in geosynchronous and highly elliptical orbits, much like DSP, but with increased sensitivity. SBIRS Low will consist of a constellation of low-orbit satellites—probably 24, like the SBR Objective System— that will use infrared sensors to track missiles' trajectories for the purpose of guiding defensive systems such as interceptor missiles. Whether the proposed antiballistic missile system of which SBIRS Low would be a part would be effective is technically controversial. The first SBIRS High satellite is scheduled for launch in 2004, and the first SBIRS Low in 2006.


	3. The history of Gallagher Academy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A background chapter.

_Not gold but only men can make_  
_A people great and strong;_  
_Men who for truth and honor's sake_  
_Stand fast and suffer long._  
_Brave men who work while others sleep,_  
_Who dare while others fly_  
_They build a nation's pillars deep_  
_And lift them to the sky._

\- attributed to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

———-

Ioseph Cavan (1831-1907) served as the first Headmaster of the institute his wife founded,from 1866 to 1905. Born in Toronto to immigrant parents from Saxony,Ioseph was the third of six children,all but one of who lived to old age. 

In 1847,Ioseph won a scholarship to the then still rather new Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He graduated at the top of his class in 1852 and almost immediately went to work for the military. He was stationed in New York when he first met Gillian Gallagher (1836-1900) in 1859,at a ball for the mayor.

Ioseph and Gillian met again in 1864,when he was invalided out of the military after the Battle of the Wilderness. Ioseph had trained in espionage during his military years,and he realized that he could open up a school for potential spies.

Gillian was enthusiastic about the idea,but it took until their marriage in July 1865 for the idea to bear fruit. Gillian’s sister Willa (1832-1889) suggested that it be a girls only school. Gillian could teach combat classes,as she had a sword that had been passed down in the Gallagher family since before the Battle of Bannockburn.

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women,in Alexandria,Virginia,opened for business on July 5,1866,the day after the nation’s 90th birthday.

Cavan oversaw a faculty of nearly 100 of the nation’s best spies,who taught the student body everything from rifle handling procedures to how to assimilate into Imperial Russian society. Cavan himself taught world history.

In 1892,a class on Protection and Enforcement (P&E) was added. Cavan resigned as headmaster in 1905.

———-

List of Gallagher headmasters:

Ioseph Cavan (1866-1905)

Louis Morgan (1905-1912)

Jessie Davis (1912-1928)

Michael Graham (1928-1945)

Stanley Morgan (1945-1972)

Isabella Jones (1972-1995)

Rachel Morgan (1995-)


	4. A Meeting of Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something like the briefing scene from Marooned

Around a conference table sat five men and two women,one of them operating a laptop,another a projector. At the front one of the men spoke.

“This sequence depicts an EVA undertaken from MOOP the day before yesterday. Baxter and McCauley were the EVA crew members.”

On the screen,Abe Baxter of MI6 moved around in space,a maneuvering backpack strapped to his back. He was using some sort of power tool to solder around a circuit.

The tall black man at the back spoke. “This is related to the solar cell degradation,am I correct?”

”Yes,Colonel. Colorado Springs added the EVA to the flight plan when the degradation became marked. The Aardvark-M cargo manifest for the next two flights is full,so January is the earliest we can send replacement parts. This is May,but we have plenty of time,according to the experts.”

Next to speak was Catherine Goode,a slim blond sporting a ‘70s hairstyle and a Packers T-shirt. “Has the crew been experiencing physiological problems?”

”It’s unclear. Their medical telemetry is still normal. But McCauley’s reaction time is dropping. Iverson has been given permission to remove his bio-sensors. The quality of the astronomical film is also declining. A check of the telemetry showed serious errors in the computational settings. At some point the telescope may have to be replaced.


End file.
